The Decision Intelligence Lab

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠⁠https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠⁠ . What if the biggest mistake organizations make isn't in their data or their AI, but in never actually defining the decision they're trying to make? In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Wats...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠⁠ https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠⁠ . Meinolf Sellmann, computer scientist, entrepreneur, and founder/CEO of InsideOpt, joins the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast with hosts Mike Watson and Vijay Mehrotra. Meinolf built MIP solvers at Bell Labs, IBM, and GE before launching his...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠⁠ https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/ ⁠⁠. Three years ago, a student without a coding background couldn't ship a prototype. Today they're starting companies. Mike Watson and Vijay Mehrotra have spent years putting students in front of real clients with real problems and no sa...

Dr. Carlos Zetina — industrial engineer, ex-Amazon research scientist, and pre-sales consultant at FICO — walks through how he thinks about problems before solving them. Drawing on his PhD in optimization, years in risk consulting, and three intense years at Amazon, Carlos shares the frameworks he uses to make sure organizations work on the right problems, not just the loudest ones. The conversati...

Dr. Ram Bala (Professor at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business, author of The AI-Centered Enterprise, and founder of Samvid.ai) joins Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson on the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast. They unpack "contextual AI" — why generic LLM answers fail enterprises, how role-aware AI aligns procurement and legal teams, the real danger of "agentic ch...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠ https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠ . What happens when the optimization rules you learned no longer apply? Dr. Tim Varelmann, Founder of Bluebird Optimization, an expert for mathematical modeling, algorithms and software development, joins Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson to unpa...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/ ⁠. In this episode, Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson sit down with Stephen Wunker, a strategy advisor for innovative leaders and Managing Director at New Markets Advisors, to explore transformative frameworks for navigating the AI era. Drawing fro...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠ . This episode explores how organizations can successfully adopt generative AI by focusing less on tools and more on operating models, decision-making, and alignment. Justin Trombold, President & Founder, Antesyn Advisors, shares his journey f...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠ . In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab Podcast, Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson sit down with Evan Shellshear, Principal at BCGX (BCG’s technology innovation arm) and co-author of Why Data Science Projects Fail. Evan shares lessons f...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠ https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/ ⁠. In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson sit down with Rich Savoie, CEO and co-founder of Adiona, to explore one of the toughest problems in modern logistics: last-mile delivery optimization. Ric...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠. In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab Podcast, hosts Michael Watson and Vijay welcome John Brandon Elam, Decision Systems Leader at Toyota and co-founder of Bit Bros. John shares deep, practical insights on why decision systems in larg...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠ . In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson welcome Linda Crowe and Benjamin Baer from DecideWise, a community focused on data, decision intelligence, and AI. The conversation explores the pu...

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/ . In this episode, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson reflect on the first year of the Decision Intelligence podcast, discussing the evolution of the podcast, key themes from their guests, and insights into decision intelligence, data science,...

In this episode, Dr. Lorien Pratt discusses the concept of Decision Intelligence (DI), its importance in bridging the gap between data and decision-making, and how it evolves from decision engineering. She emphasizes the need for stakeholder alignment, the role of data in decision-making, and the importance of understanding the context of decisions. The conversation also touches on the integration...

In this special holiday episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab Podcast, Vijay welcomes back the show’s first-ever returning guests: Borja Menéndez, creator of Advent of OR, and Zohar Strinka, a lead contributor to the INFORMS Analytics Framework. Together, they explore two major initiatives released in 2024 that aim to reshape how the next generation of operations research (OR) and analytics pro...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Mike Watson engage with guests Warren Powell, Co-Founder of Optimal Dynamics, and Adam DeJans Jr., Technical Account Manager at Gurobi Optimization, to explore the intricacies of decision-making in uncertain environments. The conversation delves into the importance of sequential decision optimization, the role of un...

How Call Centers Shape Patient Access In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson welcome Peyton Fry, founder of Glass Raven, to discuss the intricacies of healthcare operations, particularly focusing on call centers and patient access. Peyton shares his journey from working in call centers to consulting healthcare systems on optimizing operati...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, Zohar Strinka discusses the concept of meta-problems in problem solving, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right problem to tackle. She shares real-world examples of how solving the wrong problem can lead to disastrous outcomes and highlights the iterative nature of problem-solving in analytics. Zohar also explores the distinction...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson engage with Warren Lieberman, President, Veritec Solutions , to explore the evolution of revenue optimization, particularly in the self-storage industry. Warren shares his journey from high school computer science to operations research at Yale, and his pivotal role in revenue management at American A...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Laboratory podcast, Dr. Filippo Focacci, co-founder and CEO of DecisionBrain, shares insights into the world of optimization, the evolution of their DB Gene platform, and the impact of generative AI on decision-making processes. The conversation covers Filippo's journey into optimization, the strengths of Decision Brain's team, and the technolog...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson interview Jon Petersen, Vice President of Data at Archer, an aerospace company specializing in electric vertical takeoff and landing (EVTOL) aircraft. The conversation explores Archer's mission to revolutionize urban mobility, the critical role of data science in aircraft design and operations, an...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson discuss the concept of DecisionOps with Carolyn Mooney, Co-Founder & CEO of Nextmv. They discuss the evolution of decision-making systems, the importance of simulation and testing, and how to build trust within organizations. Carolyn shares insights on hierarchical optimization, the responsibiliti...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson engage with Karthik Gada, a CFO and author, to explore the accelerating rate of change in technology and its implications for businesses, economies, and individuals. Gada discusses how technological advancements are interconnected and how they impact various sectors, including healthcare and education...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Laboratory podcast, Borja Menéndez, Lead Operations Research Engineer at Trucksters who also earned his PhD in OR, joins us to discuss his journey into the field of operations research, the impact of his work at Trucksters, and the importance of integrating data science with traditional optimization methods. He shares insights on the relay optimization...

In this episode of the Decision Intelligence Lab podcast, hosts Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson engage with Ben Alamar, a PhD economist and sports analytics expert. They explore the evolution of sports analytics, the impact of motion tracking technology, and the challenges of integrating data into decision-making processes in sports. Ben shares personal anecdotes about his experiences with teams...